Palms

The Palms is said to be Las Vegas' first true luxury boutique hotel and contemporary, California-style hot spot, attracting celebrities and a younger, cool crowd. Playboy has opened the first new Playboy Club in over a generation at the Palms. There is a recently-built condo-hotel and spa, and luxurious new suites in the 40-story Fantasy Tower.

The Palms' Fantasy Tower offers two "Party Floors" that include, among other things, a suite with a hardwood basketball court and a modern, fully equipped recording studio for bands or pop stars who want to mix business with pleasure.

The large (95,000 square feet) Palms Las Vegas Casino has separate rooms for poker and high-limit play. The casino invites guests to wager on all sorts of table games and, of course, to play the innumerable slot machines. The focus is on luxury and pure entertain-ment, offering the usual games, many slots and several card tables for your enjoyment. The race and sports book offers wagers on all the races and sporting events. There are 14 HD televisions and 6 big screens in the sports book, 26 televisions and 12 big screens in the race book, and individual sets for all 142 race seats.

Alizé. The swank Alizé (meaning trade wind) is on the 56th floor of the Palms' tower. Illustrative dishes include Colorado lamb with morels, pan-seared foie gras with crispy duck confit and pink grapefruit, and goat-cheese ravioli.

Nove Italiano is found atop the Palms Fantasy Tower, just below the Playboy Club and Moon Nightclub. It is a multi-terraced restaurant to take advantage of the amazing views to be had out the enormous windows. Pastas are handmade and served in simple sauces. The dining room also features a classic Caesar salad prepared tableside, thin-crusted pizzas, including the signature lobster pizza, as well as steaks, such as bistecca fiorentina. The wine list focuses on Italian brands respected world wide.

Little Buddha is reached through the casino, by a way illuminated by Chinese lanterns. An offshoot of Buddha Bar in Paris, the style is French-inspired Asian and combines a restaurant, sushi bar and lounge. Menu specialties include the lemon chicken, orange roughy and citrus-avocado salad and the boneless Kobe short ribs and creamy garlic cabbage slaw.

The Blue Agave Oyster & Chile Bar features freshly shucked oysters, seafood pan roasts and bowls of red or green chile.

Garduño's is authentic Mexican cooking. On Sundays, Garduño's offers a lavish margarita brunch. Guacamole is prepared tableside.

N9NE is a steak house specializing in the chic. In the middle of the 175-seat din-ing room is a 16-seat round caviar bar. Fish and pasta dishes are also on the menu.

The Palms has much to offer, including a 16-screen movie theater, which shows all the latest movies.

The three-story Spa at the Palms provides 20,000 square feet of stress-reducing treatments and activities. There is a men's spa and co-ed fitness area, featuring weights, cardio equipment, and customized individual TV screens. The women's spa and the exercise studio are located on the top level. Classes such as Pilates and candlelight yoga are offered. The spa areas include saunas, steam rooms, cold plunge pools, Swiss showers and whirlpools as well as relaxation lounges, locker rooms, vanity areas and showers. Treatments include massages, facials, body scrubs, and wraps.

The Palms is geared to handle special events. The hotel has adequate banquet and meeting space to accommodate guests, as well as all the audiovisual equipment needed, and the staff to facilitate it all. Guests also have access to a full-service business center.

The principal nightclub is Rain Las Vegas. It is enormous but not impersonal, unique but not strange and luxurious but not haughty. The entrance to the club is through a bright tunnel leading to the main rooms, all equipped with state-of-the-art lighting systems. Rain hosts live shows that attract locals and celebrities. ghostbar hovers over Vegas from the top floor of the Palms tower. It is a great spot for relaxation while having a cocktail and listening to some great rock or hip-hop. The outdoor patio extends past the front of the club with two more bars on either side. From the transparent glass section of ghostbar's patio, guests can look straight down to the pool area hundreds of feet below.

The Moon Nightclub is at the top of the Palms' Fantasy Tower, more than 50 stories above the streets of Las Vegas. In its 12,500 square foot space, Moon creates a dramatic and surreal ambiance for par-tiers. Glass-tile floors change colors. The floor-to-ceiling windows provide unparalleled views of Las Vegas. The theme is space age - hence the name. Servers and dancers wear short, tight, metallic skirts with black go-go boots. Lasers and space imagery splash on the walls above the main dance floor. Above, the a roof opens to reveal a majestic view of the desert sky and stars.

Playboy Club. "The bunny is back" according to Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner. The last club closed in 1988, and now the first new club is at the Palms. Unlike the originals, the Playboy Club at the Palms does not require membership. The club tries to create a sophisticated ambiance that appeals to both men and women.

Located on the 52nd floor of the Palms' Fantasy Tower, the club boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and breath-taking views of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Playboy Club also offers gaming in the form of black-jack and roulette tables.

The Palms spent over $30 million to remodel its 150,000 square feet of area dedicated to the pool complex. The first of three pools runs along a terrace in front of the restaurant, encircled by six cylindrical cabanas. A wading area leads to the second pool appointed with round cabanas and a performance stage. A waterfall flows from the second floor, concealing the bar behind. A glass bar with blackjack tables have been inserted beneath a third pool with a glass bottom. Two waterfalls feed the areas destined for wading. The poolside menu features high-end fare. During the warmer months, the pool area hosts Ditch Fridays, a special pool party event.

The Palms has minimal shopping in the property itself, but provides complimentary shuttle service to the Fashion Show Mall and the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace